With repetitive use, the lens of a camera may become dirty, resulting in a degraded image quality for images captured with the camera. For example, linescan camera systems capture images of objects as they pass in front of a camera capture window. As objects continue to pass the camera, obstructions and debris may collect on the camera capture window leading to degraded quality images. The resultant degradation to image quality may adversely impact the performance of a system in which the camera is integrated.
A conventional method of detecting a blocked field-of-view of a camera in an imaging system includes waiting until performance of the system drops below a predetermined threshold. When the performance drops below the threshold, a user must manually investigate why the system performance has decreased. For example, the user decides whether or not the performance decrease is due related to a problem with the camera or with another part of the system. When examining the camera, the user may determine that the capture window of the camera is obscured by dirt or debris and suitable maintenance (e.g., removal of the dirt or debris) is performed to restore the system to a proper operating condition.